Miller Coolmate 1 Flow Rate

[brianpgriset]

I noticed quite a bit of algae in my coolmate 1 recently. Flushed the system with many times with clean water and it cleaned up but I was concerned that I fouled the system. To test flow I pulled hoses at a few spots.

Disconnected the hot water return from the torch head and got 24oz in one minute. Seemed good to me.

Pulled the return line after the heat exchanger (basically all the way though the system from tank to torch and through heat ex back to the tank) and got about 12 oz in one minute.

Is this too low? The front cover says the "unrestricted" flow is 0.6 GPM.

The flow through the torch seemed good. Solid stream. I'm concerned about he heat ex though. Seems low. It does have a bunch of turns though so I'd expect some pressure drop.

Thoughts?

 

[GaryM909]

Not a 100% sure about the flow rate but we used to put an additive into the water to stop any corrosion or like you said- algae. I can't remember the product we used but we
never had a problem with flow or dirty coolant. The only time their was a problem it was because of a pinched hose or forgetting to turn it on.

 

[mike13u]

Not too low. Run it without a glove for a couple passes and see if torch gets hot (will not hurt anything) or run an AC alu beads and then feel your torch and see how warm it is. Flow rates are pretty low generally. You will know if something is up if it gets hot on a few passes though.

 

[kkroger]

About 1.8 qt a minute. Run some algaecide in the tank.. Generally speaking if you weld a lot prettymuch nothing can survive in a hot EG and Water environment. the coolant in the system is typically EG and water (just like in a vehicle) unless you are just running water. or Propylene Glycol (RV Antifreeze) and algae can probably survive that since it is safe to drink...

 

[brianpgriset]

I've always run the miller coolant sincenter purchase. It seems to get algae a lot quicker than I'd like. Anyways I'm putting it back together now hopefully it runs good!

 

[danscobra6]

I use the Miller coolant and a squirt of waterbed conditioner, no algae or scum.

 

[brianpgriset]

Well after poking around some more I pulled the check valve off from the heat ex and it had much less pressure drop.

All the pressure drop is across the check. I might pull it out and check it but it looks clear.

Do I really need a check? Maybe it helps to prime the pump?